Sora can move as silently as a ghost and hurl throwing stars with lethal accuracy. Her gemina, Daemon, can win any physical fight blindfolded and with an arm tied behind his back. They are apprentice warriors of the Society of Taigas—marked by the gods to be trained in magic and the fighting arts to protect the kingdom of Kichona.As their graduation approaches, Sora and Daemon look forward to proving themselves worthy of belonging to the elite group—but in a kingdom free of violence since the Blood Rift Rebellion many years ago, it’s been difficult to make their mark. So when Sora and Daemon encounter a strange camp of mysterious soldiers while on a standard scouting mission, they decide the only thing to do to help their kingdom is to infiltrate the group.Taking this risk will change Sora’s life forever—and lead her on a mission of deception that may fool everyone she’s ever loved.Love, spies, and adventure abound as Sora and Daemon unravel a complex web of magic and secrets that might tear them—and the entire kingdom—apart.

Monday, June 18, 2018

I know, I know. I'm super late to this as the month is already half over (which hoooooow? where is my time going???? PLEASE SLOW DOWN THANK YOU), but I still wanted to do a post for Pride Month. Because being queer is something to be celebrated. ♥ And ever since coming out as bi last year, I've made conscious choices to read more queer stories, and to include more queer characters in my own writing. It's not something I ever didn't do before, but I became more proactive about it. Because, honestly? Queerness just makes everything better. And I'm SO here for ALL the books with LGBTQ+ characters.

Books I Loved and Enjoyed

And the whole Beyond series by Kit Rocha. Labels aren't used, but most of the characters are queer. And the books are *so good* so you should absolutely give them a try. The first one, Beyond Shame, is forever free. :D

On My Endless TBR

omg so many I've yet to read! I NEED TO GET ON THIS. Also, if you're looking for more recommendations, I highly suggest taking a leisurely stroll through LGBTQ Reads. This site has MASSIVE book lists that are sorted by representation, genre, age category, and more, so you'll definitely find anything you're looking for. This pride month, try to read at least one book that is LGBTQ+ or has queer characters! And look at that, Autoboyography is free to read on rivetedlit.com. I'm SO excited because I've heard fantastic things about this book and have wanted to read it for awhile now, so I started it this weekend. 🙌

Hey guys, what are some of YOUR favorite queer reads? Did you love/enjoy any of the ones that I did? Let's talk! :)

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Title: Furyborn (The Empirium Trilogy, #1)Author: Claire LegrandPublisher: Sourcebooks FireRelease Date: May 22nd, 2018!From Goodreads...Follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world...or doom it.When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.

My Review!

I’ve sat on this review for a LONG time. And the book itself took me a long damned time to read too. However, that’s not an indication of enjoyment, because it’s super good. I just needed to take my time with it because it’s not an easily breeze-through type of story. You have to really pay attention. Even though it’s only in two POVs, it’s still hard to keep everything separate in your mind, and it takes awhile to truly get into it. But, in my opinion, the reward still outweighs how much you have to work for it.

In the past, we have Rielle, blood queen of my heart. You watch her grow from a teenager scared of her power, to someone who owns who she is and what she can do. And it’s a beautiful, terrifying thing to behold. Rielle is not someone you mess with, especially when it comes to those she cares about. Even her father, who pushed her beyond measure, who was emotionally abusive and who told her over and over again that she wasn’t worth the magic, she forgave. And being able to forgive is a trait that is underestimated time and time again. But not only that, Rielle is just a girl who wants to survive in a world trying to keep her down.

In the present, we have Eliana, fierceness personified. She’s got a lot of sting and bite to her. She’s done a lot of bad shit; she’s a killer. But she’s a survivor too. And through everything that happens, she’s got her instincts, her skills, and her tentative friendships with the rebels. Striking deals and hearts, Eliana is a force to behold. But at the heart of who she is, is her love for her brother Remy. He believes in the best of people, and he knows Eliana even when she doesn’t know herself. She doesn’t exactly need his validation and support, but she doesn’t have very many people in her corner so I loved that she had him.

This utterly unique and rich fantasy is focused on these women and their hopes and desires and mistakes and hurts. These two very different people, separated by a thousand years, are almost mirrors of each other sometimes. They’ll both do whatever it takes for those they love, and for themselves. They’ll tear out your heart and smile over it, especially Rielle, who changes a lot. And who I want to know the most about. I sometimes preferred her chapters over Eliana’s, but the story fuses together so thoroughly that you can’t help but love them both equally. And you can’t help but want to see them succeed and win.

Not only that, but I loved the secondary characters: Audric, Remy, Ludivine, Simon, and Navi. They really brought so much to this book, and I can’t wait to see where the series takes them all (and I’ve followed Claire for so long that I’m very scared for my babies, DON’T HURT ME). I’m definitely gonna have to reread Furyborn, though, since I know I missed things the first time around. But it’s worth a second run-through anyway because I love angry, fiery girls.

For today's post, I decided to still showcase DNFs, but in a different direction. Sometimes.. sometimes a book just doesn't work for me at the time, no matter how excited I am for it. ALL of these books were at the top of my TBR, and I couldn't wait to read them. But because of mood, I just wasn't able to get into them, so I put them on my we-are-on-a-break shelf on Goodreads. And someday, I hope to find the time to give them a second try!

What books have you DNFed that you might try again someday? Were you able to get through any of these ones? Let's talk! :)

Monday, June 11, 2018

From the Den is a feature to showcase the books that I don't post reviews for on the blog, whether I liked them or not. I read so many books that never make it onto The Fox's Hideaway, so I wanted a feature where I could still tell y'all about them. :)

*****

a finale I read in April

*Vaguely spoilery*

I don’t even know how to review this book. Not because it was bad. No, in fact, it was quite good. Possibly one of the best sequels I’ve read in ages. But ouch, I’m still reeling after that ending. Like I kind of expected it, but also really didn’t want it to happen like that? It is SO bittersweet, and I loved these characters so much that it just makes me sad. It had the signature Victoria Schwab flair: the morally ambiguous characters, the monster versus human struggle for power and survival, but what happens when people like Kate have to be a little monstrous to live? And what happens when you’ve got precious cinnamon roll August who doesn’t feel like a monster but who knows he’ll never be human no matter what he does or how many people he saves. It’s a hard-hitting series, and it gave me so many feelings, and ugh. I’m just so upset by the outcome, even when I know it fit the book and the overall story. I’m so glad I finally read it and that I took the time to reread This Savage Song first because it’s just so damned good. V has solidified herself as one of my all-time favorite authors, and I will always read her books.

Rating:4.5 Paw Prints!

Thanks to #CockyGate, this author popped up on my radar. And when I saw that this novella was free on Amazon, I couldn't pass up the chance to get it. I liked it a lot! It's on the shorter side, so the relationship doesn't feel *as* developed as it could be, but I still enjoyed seeing how Professor Wallace and Keira found each other through an English class, and a love that makes them both feel that they can be 100% themselves. But the shining star of the series is the Collins family, and their wonderful pub/restaurant. These siblings and their father love each other so much, and the banter and fun is the only kind that can come from a family that's always been close. So I'm SUPER excited to continue with Teagan's story!

Rating: 3.5 Paw Prints!

Enjoyed this even more than the first book! I really loved Teagan and Sky and the romance they start after Sky wins a singing competition to get Teagan to write songs with him. It was light on drama, which I appreciated (though I definitely didn't expect A Certain Direction it took near the end there. haha), but it was full of sexiness and the Collins family. Because it's a bit older, it doesn't always read well (aka sometimes the subtle, quiet girl hate is there that's run so rampant in romance especially), and there are a few problematic elements. But I can generally brush it off because the stories really have good things going for them. ONTO THE NEXT!

Not as good as his debut, but I do really like Caleb's writing. It made me want to keep reading, so I'd know who dun it. But the actual mystery left a lot to be desired. It wasn't as thrilling as I'd hoped, and it felt like mysteries I've already read before. And I just didn't really care for the explanations of the killer and thought it was eh. There wasn't much about it that was different, and I did not like any of the characters except for Rufus, Bash, and Lucy (who only had a few cameos, which made me sad because she's the best). I did love that Rufus and Sebastian were able to work through everything that had happened and get a second chance. They were SO CUTE. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the author's next book!

Rating: 3 Paw Prints!

This was REALLY good. It did lose me a little bit in the middle, but once things picked up, I was reading until the end. I adored the characters--Elian, Lira, Kye, Torik, Madrid. I'm a huge fan of found families, so this siren-hunting pirate crew and their banter made me so happy. And Elian's and Lira's voices were distinct enough, and unique, that there wasn't any trouble following the chapters even though they weren't titled with the character speaking. Both of them had shit to work through, pasts to reconcile, and futures they wanted to shape to make the world better. It was a enemies-to-lovers romance, which is my favorite. The world was one that was easy to get lost in, and while I could see how the book would end, it didn't take away anything from the story. This was the dark retelling of The Little Mermaid I've always wanted.

Rating: 4 Paw Prints!

I set this aside around the first 30 pages, because I just could not get over Iris' attitude. I mean, this girl is getting a trip to Ireland to see the filming of her late grandmother's fantasy series? HOW FUCKING COOL. But she didn't think it was cool, and she hated everything about it, and life. And she had her dad's voice in her head reminding her over and over again that she shouldn't like the Elementia trilogy. But she grew on me throughout the story. You just have to get past her antagonistic nature; she needed to find her way even if it meant many mistakes to get there. The characters were all lovely and three-dimensional. I adored Eamon and Shoshanna and Cate in particular, and I loved the feminist edge to this book. I did just appreciate a lot about this, and the conversations that happened, and I liked that it didn't tie up in a neat little bow when it came to Iris and Ryder's relationship with their dad (who is a genuine piece of work, I tell you what). I thought I wouldn't like this, honestly, which is why I'd put off finishing it. But it gave me FEELS that I wasn't expecting, especially that ending!

Rating: 3.5 Paw Prints!

What books did YOU end up reading in May? Have you read any of these yet? What'd you think of them? Let's talk! :)

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

A new month, new book releases! And omg there are SO MANY good ones coming out this month that I can't wait to read.

June 5th

June 7th

June 12th

June 14th

June 19th

June 26th

I've already read:The Unbinding of Mary Reade, which was incredibly disappointing. Everything about it -- the characters, the plot, the writing -- was awkward and just did not come together cohesively. *cries*

From NetGalley/Edelweiss:Sweet Black Waves, In Bed with the Beast, Final Draft, and Save the Date are still on my to-review TBR, so hopefully I get to them SOON. I also need to finish Whisper of the Tides. (I've been so bad this month, tbh).

My most anticipated:A Thousand Beginnings and Endings because fantasy! anthology! A Thousand Perfect Notes because Cait. I'm sensing a word theme here.. ALSO A Reaper at the Gates because I adore this series and Sabaa Tahir. Oh, and The Kiss Quotient because I've heard faaaab things about it. omg wait, two more: Running With Lions and Summer of Salt.

What June books are YOU most excited about reading? Did I miss any that should be on my radar? Let's talk! :)

hi, hello, welcome!

I'm Holly, the blogger behind The Fox's Hideaway. I love to read, write, play video games, and Netflix. I spend way too much time binge-watching TV shows I never finish, procrastinating life, and disappearing into the pages of a book for hours on end. I started this blog as a way to give myself a creative outlet for writing and talk books with people who "get" it. And it's since become one of the biggest passions I have, and it humbles me that you're here and reading this short little paragraph right now. I hope you'll stick around as I rant and rave and stumble through adulthood. :D

Want to find out more about me? Check out the "Who's the Fox?" tab! You can also find my blog button there as well. :)

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